By Fernando Belzunce On the wall of Martin Baron’s apartment in New York there is a painting by Juan Genovés, in which dozens of people seem to be trapped between two great walls. “It’s his, ‘Yes, they’re migrants.’ Some are trying to jump over the walls, overcome the obstacles. I like the painting and the idea behind it,” he remarks, visibly relaxed on the video conference screen. His Spanish has improved markedly, he says, thanks to an Asturian teacher. And no doubt thanks also to his legendary determination, capable of overcoming the Genovés walls and many others that he describes in his re ..read more

“It has been a great growth story for the BBC in India. We [India] have become the biggest global market for the BBC,” Rupa Jha, Head of India, BBC News told participants at our Digital Media India conference in New Delhi. Jha is leading the BBC’s language operation in the country. She is also responsible for handling four other language news services for BBC News – Indonesian, Bengali, Nepali and Sinhala. Increasing female engagement a priority Consumption of video has gone up. Video made up 82% of all internet traffic in 2022, compared to 73% before the pandemic. In 2024, India holds the tit ..read more

Cecilia Campbell, WAN-IFRA’s Innovate Local Maike Schiller, Head of the Editorial Culture Team, tells the story of how the culture desk at Hamburger Abendblatt decided to think outside the box in how they reach audiences and, as a result, increased the number of conversions from culture content by 37% over a year. It’s about identifying new audiences, like the 400,000 people who sing in Hamburg choirs, or pop-up audiences who are in intense need of information related to a specific event.   The success of the culture desk is now inspiring change in the wider newsroom, and we hope it will ..read more

On 27 May, when the global media fraternity gathers in Copenhagen for the World News Media Congress, WAN-IFRA will award the 2024 Golden Pen of Freedom.  This award is made each year to a person or group who has sacrificed much in the cause of press freedom. As we prepare to honour the 2024 Laureate, we reflect on winners past; the ideal moment to see what has happened to some of those who have received the award in its 63-year history. On trial in Hong Kong Jimmy Lai, the founder of former independent newspaper Apple Daily, is 60 days into a trial in Hong Hong that may see him jailed for ..read more

Swedish journalist Pia Rehnquist has held various roles, including that of editor-in-chief at Sydsvenska Dagbladet, one of Sweden’s biggest morning newspapers, where she first started her career as a journalist, in 2000. She joined Bonnier News Local in 2020, as Editorial Director. In December, she was promoted as Business Area Manager, and oversees about 50 Swedish regional and local newspapers. Rehnquist also makes up part of the management team of Bonnier News – one of the largest media groups in the Nordic region, comprising more than 200 titles and brands. Bonnier News boasts over 2.2 mil ..read more

Established in 1945, and online since 1995, VG is one of the country’s most popular news sources. “In 2024, we are in a very strong position in Norway. Our traffic comes directly rather than from social media platforms,” Jari Bakken, Newsroom Engineer, VG, told participants at our Digital Media India conference in New Delhi. See also: Mastering frontpage engagement: Norway’s VG aligns strategy and analytics ‘ChatGPT changed the way we use AI’ ChatGPT has opened up the space for developers to use AI in new ways, Bakken said. For example, today, developers are exploring different language models ..read more

Daily Maverick is recognised worldwide for its innovative and successful membership programme, Maverick Insider. But in a shock tactic, the online publication has shut down for 24 hours  to highlight the market failure in journalism, where the economics no longer work to support its production. It says most of the public and business community still don’t appreciate the full extent of the news media crisis, or its urgency.   “We have failed to communicate the severity of the crisis and the impact it will have on key institutions and our economic prospects. Today’s shutdown aims to h ..read more

From April 25th to 26th, Warsaw will host an international conference addressing SLAPPs, organised by Agora, ARTICLE 19 Europe, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Prague Civil Society Center, and Watchdog Poland. The objective is  to devise strategies to combat legal harassment against public watchdogs who champion public interests.   The surge in strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) against journalists and activists exposing corruption and abuses of power is alarming. Politicians, powerful businessmen, and corporations increasingly use legal threats to silen ..read more

‘The approach for the 2024 elections has been clear for us for the past year or more: to double down on our efforts to fight misinformation and disinformation, to promote media literacy, and to educate voters about the electoral processes so they can make informed choices.’ – Shelly Walia, Quint Media The choices voters make this year in over 64 countries who have elections will be defining – creating real pressure for journalists who are dealing with extreme polarisation, censorship and an unprecedented deluge of mis- and disinformation, much of it created and driven by AI. To assess the scal ..read more

Adriaan Basson is a multiple award-winning investigative journalist who has authored four books on corruption and current affairs, including Zuma Exposed (2012) and Blessed by Bosasa (2019). A newsroom veteran, his career started at Afrikaans daily Beeld in 2003. He tackled investigations at The Mail & Guardian, was a founding member of award-winning investigative unit amaBhungane, and was assistant editor at City Press, before returning to Beeld as editor in 2013.  Basson was named CNN African Journalist of the Year for news and is a recipient of the Taco Kuiper Award. He was appoint ..read more